Photo Credit: Alexa Viscius
MUNA vocalist Katie Gavin has announced her first solo record, What a Relief, set to release on Oct. 25 via Saddest Factory Records. Gavin’s forthcoming record arrives amid a successful career with beloved synth-pop outfit MUNA alongside Naomi McPherson and Josette Maskin, and follows three previous projects: 2017’s About U, 2019’s Saves The World and, most recently, MUNA, released in 2022 by the same imprint spearheaded by Phoebe Bridgers. To give fans a taste of her solo work, Gavin also released the record’s lead single, “Aftertaste,” alongside an accompanying music video and full tracklist.
The July 23 release of “Aftertaste” provides a window into the rest of the record, which Gavin explains is “about having a really deep desire for connection, but also encountering all the obstacles that stood in my way to be able to achieve that, patterns of isolation or even boredom with the real work of love.” While its lyrics document a “surrender” to intoxicating magnetism and “romantic fantasy,” the single also marks a literal transition–“a bridge, sonically and thematically,” as Gavin explains–between MUNA and her solo work.
Shot in Chicago with direction from Alexa Viscius, the music video embodies this transitory period, featuring Gavin as a nude model in a life drawing class. “Back to my roots, if you will,” the Illinois native quipped, alluding to the video project being produced in her birthplace.
Gavin’s album and tour news arrive amid a busy summer for MUNA, who joined Alanis Morissette onstage at Pitchfork Festival for a rendition of “Ironic” over the weekend and have a scheduled set at Newport, R.I.’s vaunted Newport Folk Festival on Friday, July 26. Though MUNA’s staging has been slated for some time, the festival recently announced that Gavin is also due for a Bike Stage solo performance the next evening to kick off her new era.
Following fall festival appearances with MUNA at Evanston Folk Festival and All Things Go, as well as a solo date in London, Gavin will head to the West Coast for Seattle, Portland and California shows. The Illinois native will then perform in Nashville, New York, Washington, Boston and Toronto before closing out the year with a hometown show at Chicago’s Thalia Hall on Dec. 18.
Tickets for Katie Gavin’s solo dates go on sale on Friday, Aug. 2, at 10:00 a.m. local time. “Aftertaste” is available now, and fans can pre-save or pre-order the record now. Read on for a full tracklist and complete list of tour dates.
Katie Gavin – What a Relief:
1. I Want It All
2. Aftertaste
3. The Baton
4. Casual Drug Use
5. As Good As It Gets ft. Mitski
6. Sanitized
7. Sketches
8. Inconsolable
9. Sparrow
10. Sweet Abby Girl
11. Keep Walking
12. Today
Upcoming Tour Dates
July 26 – Newport Folk Festival – Newport, R.I.*
July 27 – Newport Folk Festival – Newport, R.I.*^
Sept. 7 – Evanston Folk Festival – Evanston, Ill.*
Sept. 11 – The Old Church – London, England^
Sept. 28 – All Things Go Music Festival – Forest Hills, New York#
Sept. 30 – The Bell House – New York #
Oct. 1– The Bell House – New York #
Oct. 2 – The Bell House – New York #
Nov. 19 – Neumos – Seattle^
Nov. 20 – The Old Church – Portland, Ore.^
Nov. 22 – Bimbo’s 365 Club – San Francisco^
Nov. 24 – Pappy + Harriet’s – Pioneertown, Calif.^
Nov. 25 – Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever – Los Angeles^
Dec. 8 – The Blue Room – Nashville, Tenn.^
Dec. 10 – Bowery Ballroom – New York^
Dec. 13 – The Atlantis – Washington^
Dec. 14 – Brighton Music Hall – Boston^
Dec. 16 – The Great Hall – Toronto, Ontario^
Dec. 18 – Thalia Hall – Chicago^
Notes:
* Katie Gavin w/ MUNA
# Gayotic Podcast Tour Dates
^ Kate Gavin headlining show
The post Listen: MUNA’s Katie Gavin Previews ‘What a Relief’ with “Aftertaste,” Plots Solo Tour appeared first on Relix Media.
